


Our Bonding Moment

by novaelixr



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Nail Painting, Shy Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-17 22:24:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17569055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novaelixr/pseuds/novaelixr
Summary: Keith finally allows Lance to paint his nails.





	1. Keith's POV

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what even....

"C'mon, Keiiiiiitth," Lance whined. He was holding up two bottles of nail polish, and had on his best puppy face. Keith groaned from his spot on the couch in the lounge of the castle. He had just gotten back from the Blades, and was trying to rest. That was when Lance pounced on him, wishing to paint his nails. This was the fourth time today Lance had asked to paint his nails, and now he was pulling out the worst and most powerful weapon.

"Lance, I told you, you're not gonna paint my nails." Lance sighed, and sprawled into Keith's lap uncomfortably. The smaller man tries to ignore the warmth rising to his face, when Lance snuggled into his lap, still complaining.

"But whyyyyy," the Cuban boy whined. He twisted in Keith's lap to stare at him with a pout. He groaned mentally. His weakness was Lance's puppy-dog face, and the worst part was, Lance knew it.

"Be quiet!" he whispered, "everyone else is sleeping." Lance frowned, but nodded reluctantly. 

"Fine," he whispered back, "But please?"

Keith groaned. He knew that Lance wouldn't stop asking until he said yes, but he sure as hell would try not to give in for as long as he could. Keith attempted to push him off, but Lance just hooked his long arms around Keith's neck, fingers brushing over the sensitive spot on the back of the paler man's neck. Keith tensed, for Lance was now  _very_ close to his mouth, and if Keith just dipped his head a little, he would be kissing Lance's temple. He turned his head to the side, trying to banish the intrusive thoughts from his head.

"Get off of me, Lance," He grumbled. He breathed in, and Lance's smell overtook his senses.

Here's the thing. Lance's smell was very unique, and Keith loved the rare moments when he could just inhale, and the comforting smell of sea salt and chocolate would wrap around him like a blanket. It was warm, and reminded him of nights in the desert, where the sun was just below the horizon, and he was sitting on the roof, and the beauty of the stars was printed on his eyelids.

Lance curled up around him, his body relaxing. "Come on, Keith!" he yawned, his words slurring. Keith fought the urge to smile. 

"Are you tired, Lance?" Keith tilted his head to look at Lance. His blue eyes were lidded and dark with fatigue.

Lance shook his head vigorously. "No," he said, while sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Lance was so adorable when he was sleepy. Keith smiled softly, and tapped his shoulder.

"C'mon slugger, it's bedtime." Lance didn't resist, letting Keith pull him to his feet and lead him down the hallway. Keith brought Lance to to the blue/red paladins room, and held up his hand to the sensor so the door would open. Lance wilted to the side when Keith stopped moving.

"Keith," he slurred, "Please let me paint your nails." Keith smirked.

"You still on about that?" He murmured, as he laid down the new red Paladin onto his bed. Lance, though, Lance had other ideas. He latched onto Keiths arm, and nuzzled into the crook of Keith elbow. He mumbled something into Keith's sleeve. He chuckled, and patted his head. Lance sighed, and Keith could feel the warmth of his breath through his sleeve. Keith leaned down, to press a kiss on Lance's forehead, when he froze abruptly. To caught up in the moment, he let himself get carried away with the warmth that Lance somehow coaxed out of him. What was he  _doing_ _?_ Hanging out in Lance's room, when the other man was barely awake? He didn't even know if Lance liked boys! Lance noticed the sudden pause in Keith's movements, and tilted his head up to look at his face. Because of Keith's actions, they were now face-to-face, staring into each others eyes. Keith never knew that Lance had purple flecks in his bright blue eyes. Keith never noticed the smatter of freckles that dotted Lance's nose. He wanted to kiss them, feel Lance's warmth under his lips, but he knew he couldn't. Not while Lance was like this, all vulnerable and drowsy and so,  _so_ kissable.

He jerked away, and pulled Lance off his arm, heart pounding and cheeks flushed. Lance suddenly looked confused, letting out a small whine at the loss of contact as Keith darted out the door, calling out a hurried "good night!" and shut the door behind him, leaving Lance wide awake, confused and missing the warmth of Keith's skin.

 


	2. Lance's POV

Lance woke up, disoriented and cold, with all his clothes on and the sheets all twisted around his legs. He couldn't remember much from last night, other than trying to get Keith to paint his nails, and then crawling into his lap. Lance wasn't sure if the rest of it was real, or just a dream. He yawned and stretched, rubbing at his face. He should find Keith and see if what happened last night was a dream or not, because if it was, Lance would be very disappointed.

He swung his long legs over the side of his bed, and walked over to his door. The cool touch of metal helped wake him up more, but nothing could compare to coffee. Or rather, the weird alien substitute, this sort of sludgy white liquid that tasted like a mix between apple cider and peppermint. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't the same as coffee.

Lance shuffled to the bridge, where Hunk and Pidge were sitting, legs draped over each other as they discussed who-knows-what, pausing to wave to Lance, and Shiro and Allura were standing at the front, heads bowed toward each other, discussing some plan. Lance knew they would inform the rest of them when they finished, so he went to the kitchen to look for the alien-coffee. He walked along the hallway to the kitchen, when he heard a familiar rough voice call out.

"End training sequence 86."

His eyes widened. Holy hell, Keith was _that_ far? Hot damn. He peeked into the door, spotting Keith, all sweaty and hot, as he reached up to swipe his bangs out of the way. The black-haired man was wearing nothing but his leggings, completely shirtless, which didn't fare well for Lance's blood pressure, and his hair was in a low ponytail. Lance watched, mesmerized, and Keith started his cool-down stretch. His eyes roamed over the broad expanse that was Keith's back, the pale skin covered in tiny scars. Keith's bicep flexed, as he leaned forward along one outstretched leg to grab the heel of his foot. Goddamn, that guy was flexible.

Lance whimpered, his need to be near Keith, to touch him, to run his hands over his broad shoulders, to grab his waist and pull him close took over, and he didn't even realize that he had been making noises. Yeah, shirtless Keith really  _was_ bad for Lance.

"Who's there?" Keith called out, while stretching out his arms. Lance winced, embarrassed at being spotted, and walked into the room.

"Good morning," He called out, casting his eyes away from Keith's muscular body. 

"Hey." Keith walked over to his pile of clothes, and grabbed his towel, swiping it across his forehead, and Lance marvelled at how someone could be so lean, yet muscular. As Keith picked out his black t-shirt, Lance tore his eyes away. He knew his tan cheeks looked like Red's paint job.

Keith slipped on the T-shirt. "How was your sleep?" Keith asked, taking out the hair tie in his hair. Lance was a puddle.

"I-uh-It was-um-it was g-good," Lance stuttered, he looked at the ground, willing his body to  _stop reacting like this._

Keith smirked. Holy cow. "That great, huh?" the former red paladin towered over Lance. Stupid tall Keith and his stupid growth spurts. Lance looked away, flustered, and nodded.

"In that case, can I say now, firmly, no."

Lance's head snapped up, and he could feel himself wondering what Keith was referring to. Keith was currently trying to catch Lance's eye, seeing if his question had triggered anything.

"Y'know, for the nail thing? Lance, are you alright?" Keith prodded. Oh right. He wanted to paint Keith's nails. To be fair, Keith would look  _so_ badass with maroon nails, not to mention hot—

Keith waved and waggled his slender fingers in Lance's face, breaking the thirst trance Lance was in.

"Hmm?" Lance hummed, wondering what the question was.

"Are you okay?" Keith murmured, hand cupping at the side of Lance's face, dark violet eyes scanning his face for, well, for  _something._

Lance was once again caught off guard by how  _beautiful_ Keith was. His purple eyes were stormy, and expressive, and the slight blush on his cheeks was even more prominent on his pale skin. Keith's breath ghosted over his face, and Lance once again found himself speechless.

"I-um-I well- I'm f-fine." He ducked his head, trying to get under control. Keith frowned, and grabbed at Lance's wrist.

"Come along, let's get coffee. I need a break anyways." He sent a blinding smile at the still flustered Lance, who was stumbling over his feet. They arrived at the kitchen, were Keith sat Lance down. He had recovered somewhat from the whole 'shirtless' debacle, and was back to his teasing self.

"But why noot?" he whined. They were back to the whole 'Lemme paint your nails,' thing, and let's just say, Lance could feel Keith cracking, with every note of hurt and every puppy-dog eye Lance gave the older man.

"Because I said so." The comment had no real bite, but it was enough to trigger Lance's inner drama queen. He draped himself over Keith, who was stirring his white sludge at the counter. Without budging or looking up, Keith handed the cup to Lance, who accepted it, and drank it all at once. That piqued Keith's attention.

"You're gonna get hyper," he remarked calmly, moving to make his own cup. Lance went limp against the warm body of the older man. However, his balance was off, and he went a little too far. All of a sudden the ground was a lot closer. He let out a strangled yelp, and arms was suddenly around his back, and a hand was on his waist. He twisted around, and Keith's concerned face was closer than he expected. He once again found himself staring into the violet gems that were Keith's eyes. He audibly gulped, and quickly scooted away from the his unlikely saviour.

 "Are you sure you're okay?" Keith interrogated, eyes searching Lance's face, like he might find the answer to the algebraic question he had been presented. Lance felt himself shift into his cocky, egotistic and arrogant side.

"Aww, Keith! You care about me!" Keith blushed, and looked away. Lance smiled. He was so  _cute._ Lance threw himself into Keith's pale arms, and swooned.

"Oh my!" he called out, fluttering his eyelashes playfully. Keith stared at him, and Lance could see the blush growing with every word. "Sir Keith the Brave! How can I ever repay you?" Keith opened and closed his mouth, like a fish. But like, a  _cute_ fish. One he can get behind. Lance smirked, and vaulted himself from Keith's arms to a vertical position. "I have an idea!" He snagged Keith's hand, intertwining their fingers. He stared at their hands, the pale skin and the tan skin contrasting. He looked up, scared he would have been caught ogling him, but Keith was doing the same. 

He tugged at Keith, and led them down a hall way to his room. Keith offered no resistance.

"Where are we going?" He asked. His tone was inquisitive, but not mean.

"To my room," Lance stated. He felt Keith stiffen in his hand. Why would he-oh. Suddenly, images of Keith, with all his skin uncovered, and kissing, and touching him, made Lance blush from his head to his toes. He shook his head, willing the images away.

"Why?"  The taller man sounded panicked. 

"So I can repay you, silly." Lance retorted. He meant for his tone to be light, and silly, but the images in his mind were still fresh, and his voice was husky and borderline sexual. He tried to cover up his mistake. "Your nails will look so good in gold. Or mauve." Lance imagined Keith, his nails painted gold, stroke lines up and down his back. Or somewhere else. We won't talk about that place. 

Keith slowed down, but Lance was having none of that. He tugged at Keiths hand, and pulled him until he would move on his own.

"W-Wait, Lance," Keith tried, but Lance was to stubborn to hear him out.

"No, you are doing this, and you will  _like it."_ He spun around, and gave Keith his best puppy eyes, the ones reserved for Hunk when he made cookies, and wouldn't tell him where he hid them.

He waited, and watched Keith's internal battle. After about a minute, he saw the violet eyes accept defeat. He grinned, and pulled at his hand again. This time, Keith walked with Lance, instead of being pulled.

They walked side-by-side, their conjoined hands swung between them. Lance liked this. The familiarity of their hands clasped in each others was comforting, and Lance almost wished they could stay like this, but alas, Lance had to open the door to his room, so he let go of Keiths hand. He shivered as the pale slender fingers trailed across his palm.

He left Keith standing awkwardly in the middle of the room to get the box of nail polishes. When he looked back, Keith was crouching, surveying the messy floor of Lance's room. He felt his heart constrict when he saw how Keith wrinkled his nose, which was the most adorable thing he has ever seen.

"Okay, so, sit down, Imma prep your nails first, then I'll do the layers, okay?" He looks up at Keith, who looks interested, and not at all apprehensive, like Lance thought he would.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've done this before, y’know," He says dismissively, flapping his hand at the now-angry Cuban boy.

"Well if you are so high and mighty then you can—wait. You—what?" Lance stares at him, his eyes wide and mouth gaping. The dark haired paladin ducks his head, and rubbed the back of his neck. Lance glared at the slender fingers curled around dark strands of hair.

He snatched at Keith's hands, ignoring the spluttered sounds coming from the extremely surprised man. He held them close to his face, and inspected the perfect nails, and the unblemished nail beds.  _Too_ perfect.

"How?" was his indignant cry.

Keith shrugged.

"I really like painting my nails, but at one point I just, I dunno, I stopped."

Lance stared at Keith incredulously. "You WHAT?"

Keith smiled bashfully, and ducked his head.

The brown-haired boy shook his head as an idea came to him. He smirked.

"Let's have a challenge. We have to paint each others nails, and the winner gets the loser as a slave." The last two words rolled off of his tongue, and he shuddered at what he might make Keith do. Keith stared at the array of nail polishes.

"Who's the judge?" He asked, his head still turned toward the box.

Lance thought of someone who could pick. Not Hunk, he was extremely indecisive. So was Pidge. That left Allura, Coran, and Shiro.

"Shiro." the name left his lips before he could think of it. Keith jerked up, his head snapping toward Lance. His lips were slightly parted with surprise, and his eyes were blown wide.

"Why?"

Lance thought about it. "Have you seen that guy’s wings?"

Keith cocked his head to the side.

"Wings?"

"Eyeliner wings!"

The confused expression cleared on Keiths face.

"Okay."

Lance did a mental double take.  "Seriously?" He did not think it would be this easy.

Keith shrugged. 

"Sure. Why not?"

Lance squealed, and grabbed four bottles of nail polish. A base coat, a top coat, a maroon, and a gold. He sat down across from Keith, and watched as the dark haired man looked for his colour. Lance was mesmerized by the tilt of his jaw, the curve of his neck. Keith picked out three colours with slender fingers.

"Got it-what are you staring at?"

Lance ripped his gaze away from the pink lips, pulled tight into a scowl. 

"Nothing," he mumbled. "I get to go first," Keith pouted. Oh my god. He was adorable.

"Why do you get to go first?" 

"Because these are my polishes, also, cuz I said so."

Keith grumbled under his breath but obligingly gave Lance his hand. Lance slowly took it, caressing the slender fingers.

Keith shuddered. Lance could feel it through his body. The joking mood in the room has turned to tension, as Lance bent over Keith's slender fingers, he could feel the taller man's breath stirring his hair, and he wanted so desperately to brush his lips over the perfect nail beds. He flinched when he remembered what he was supposed to do, and snatched his hand away, leaving Keith confused.

"So I'm gonna do a base coat first," He says, rushed. Keith nods hesitantly, as Lance grabs his fingers again, the other hand twisting open the bottle of polish. The sharp smell of chemicals help clear Lance's mind.

Lance tries to ignore the hot breath stirring his hair.

He tries to ignore the warmth radiating off of the other mans body.

He tries to ignore the enveloping smell of roses and metal.

He tries to ignore the burning need to kiss the other paladin. 

"Done," he said. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Keith stared critically at the work Lance had done. He knew that at some point, his fingers had twitched with the need to touch, to intertwine the curling strands of raven hair with his fingers, to brush over his cheekbones with soft kisses-

"My turn!" Keith exclaimed. He reached for his polish, reading the labels and muttering to himself. He picked out a white bottle of base coat, and untwisted it. Keith reached for Lance's hands, and the static shocks of contact left Lance speechless. The former red paladin brushed over the back of Lance's hand, with a tenderness he didn't think was possible, from such a strong fighter.

Lance shivered, and his free hand curled. He wanted so badly what he couldn't have. As Keith delicately began painting Lance's fingers, Lance let himself memorize this moment, in space and time.

The way he could see the smooth texture of the back of Keith's neck, and the individual strands of ebony hair. The way his face flushed when Keith shifted, pushing his shoulder against the brown haired boy's chest. The way the warmth seemed to seep into Lance's bones, warming him from the inside out. The way metal and roses was all he could smell. The way Keith held his breath, as he concentrated on the last finger.

"There."

Lance held up his hands, and examined Keith's handiwork. The strokes were practiced, and steady.

"Not bad," Lance agreed. "Now. Gimmie your hands." The polish was pretty much dried, so Lance set to work on the first colour coat. He started to streak on strokes of maroon, the dark colour contrasting against Keith's pale fingers. Everything about this boy is pale. When Lance was at the last finger, the thumb, the base coat was not even half dry yet, so he started to blow lightly on his hand.

Keith jerked. “What are you doing?"

Lance cleared his throat, "I'm trying to dry your nails."

Keith flushed a dark red to rival the maroon on his fingers.

"W-why?" 

"Cuz they're wet,  _idiot._ "

Keith glared at Lance, who was sure that his eye roll could be seen all across the universe.

"Give me your hand back, I'm not done."

Keith reluctantly stuck out his left hand to finish. Lance took it, and started blowing on his thumb. Lance felt a shudder go through the other boy's body. He looked up, mouth half open. Keith looked panicked, but as Lance stared at him, his eyes changed to awe. Lance quickly glanced down. Why would Keith look like that? In a daze, he started to paint a second coat on Keith's right hand. When he was done, he released Keith's hand. He held up the still-drying nails to critique.

"Not bad."

Lance snaps out off his daze.

"Uh, excuse me, it is the best thing you will ever see."

Keith smirks, one of side his pink lips lifting up.

"I'm sure. My turn." He reached out for Lance's hands. He reached for a sponge and some tape that was hiding in the bottom of the box, and taped around Lance's perfect nails as stencil. Lance watched with growing curiosity as Keith brushed both the dark blue and light blue onto a small part of the sponge. 

"What?" was all that came out.

Keith gestured at the sponge vaguely. "Blending."

"Riiiight." None-the-less, Lance watched as Keith sponged the colour onto his nails. He had to admit, the blending was a lot smoother with a sponge. He tilted his head to try and catch Keith's eyes. They were focused and his mouth was twisted into a half-hearted scowl. He was  _adorable._ Keith held up the other boys hand, and held it up to the light. Warm breath tickled Lance's palm. 

"Not bad." His tone was teasing, and his mouth was rising into one of his smirks. Keith looked over, completely flustered, all the way down to his collar, Lance noticed distractedly. The busier side of the brain was concentrating on Keith's lips, the way they were twitching upward, the way they were parted slightly, perfectly white teeth hiding right behind it.

"Excuse you, but I am the best."

Lance blinked. So this is how they were going to play.

"Oh really, what's that smudge right there?"

Keith looked down. The tiniest smudge, barely even noticeable unless you knew it was there, was what Lance was pointing at. Keith snorted.

"That? Is that really what you want to pick on? I saw you mess up on my base coat and I graciously ignored it."

Lance flushed angrily. So he saw that, huh?

"There is not a single gracious bone in your body, Mullet." 

"Oh really? If I don't, than neither do you."

"Excuse me, I have the biggest gracious bone you've ever seen."

"Just yesterday, you tripped Pidge cuz she ate your last cookie."

Lance flailed his arms around. "It was a good cookie!"  

"I'm sure."

Lance nodded defensively. In doing so, his nose brushed against the other boy's. Somehow they had gotten impossibly close to each other in the heat of the fight and were facing off, their breaths mingling in the air between them. His eyes dropped to Keith's pink lips unwillingly. God, they were so perfect. His eyes snapped back up, to see if Keith caught this slip up, but he too was staring. Right at Lance' lips. Their eyes caught, and a spark flew between them.

Keith dipped his head, and teasingly brushed his lips against Lance's chin, his jaw, his nose. All of the contact was making Lance dizzy, his breaths coming out in gasps, and his eyes fluttered shut. Fire trailed from Keiths lips, lighting up Lance, as the Cuban boy's hands reached up, up, up, to grasp the strands of black hair, the strands of silk. Keith growled as Lance tugged, and fit their mouths together.

_Heaven._

They were perfect together. Fire and water. Red and Blue. Their mouths danced, and their hands trailed over warm skin, touching, memorizing. Lance gasped.

 _This_ was his paradise.

 _This_ was his dream.

Feeling Keith's hot breath on his lips, swallowing the moans he made, tangling his hands in ebony hair.

"Lance," The sound of Keith's voice, wanton and hoarse, made shivers go up his spine.

"Yeah," he breathed back. He lowered his lips to Keith's slender neck, nipping and biting.

"Does this mean-" Lance nibbled at Keith's pulse point, and he gasped, pulling that smaller boy closer.

"Wait." Keith pulled away, and tried to look him in the eye. "What does this mean?" Lance sighed internally. Can't he just go with the moment? And yet, he would do anything for Keith.

"Do you want to be a—like, a thing? Cause we can, if you want." Lance was pretty sure his face was on fire.

Keith flushed. "I-I mean, yeah sure."

Lance grinned and fell backwards, pulling Keith down with him. As they rolled on the floor, polishes forgotten, their hands reached, grasped, tugged and clutched. Keith broke away to lightly kiss Lance's freckles. The sensation tickled, and he giggled. Keith continued to brush his lips over Lance's eyes, his nose, his cheeks, and finally to his lips. Lance laid there in a daze. Keith was so soft, and adorable. Lance sighed contently as Keith finished kissing all of his targets and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

As Lance breathed in the smell of Keith, he found his hands drawing circles onto Keith's pale skin. He felt Keith shiver against his chest and let out a breathy laugh. 

"What," Keith snapped. He lifted his head to meet Lance's eyes, his face red with embarrassment.

Lance chuckled. He placed his lips right next to Keith's ear and said in a low voice, "I wonder what else my fingers can do to you." Keith let out a low whine, and pressed his face into Lance's chest. Lance heard, no, he  _felt_ Keith mumble something.

"What was that darling? Speak up." Lance gently tilted his boyfriend’s face up. He noticed they were still red, but his eyes were determined.

"I said." He took some time to clear his throat. " _Let's find out."_


End file.
